Two Poems by Zaina Anwar

Fragment XI
(The Oyster)

One day, the oyster
would give birth to a pearl

so white and glistening,
it would cultivate light

as if through a prism
in the anonymous depths

of the raging
sea.


Fragmentation

He came to me
with hot caresses
and lilies and solemn
promises.

By the time he left,
my heart
was a broken mirror.